CREATIVE LEARNING AGENCY:
INCOME GENERATION OPPORTUNITIES
BRIEF FOR RESEARCHER / CONSULTANT
BACKGROUND
CREATIVE LEARNING AGENCY
Creative Learning Agency is an arts education agency established in 2001. Its work extends across four local authorities; Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. It is funded by Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol City Council, South Gloucestershire Council and Arts Council England-South West.
It is one of a network of nine arts education agencies in the south west. There is currently one in each local authority area of the south west, except Wiltshire. The agencies work quite differently from one another, and CLA stands alone as the most individual; its core service is a website, designed to be the one-stop-shop for information for artists and teachers about working creatively together, www.creativelearningagency.org.uk. The main offer of the agency is advice, support, information and signposting, which is delivered through the website.
CLA’s key audiences are artists and teachers and those working in the education departments of arts and cultural venues, those working in community groups/community education, art students and so on. The most effective way of marketing the site and services of CLA has been proved to be by personal presentation and demonstration.
In October 2006 a new website and brand identity for the agency was launched. Our new identity has been launched with the following brand values in mind and we carry these values through into all aspects of our work:
· Professional but fun
· Creative and inspiring
· Informative but friendly
As well as the website, we provide support by phone, email and in person. We are also developing new areas to the service including offering one to one funding advice surgeries for artists, and support to schools applying for (or who have) Artsmark Awards and Specialist Arts College status.
Creative Learning Agency is based within the Arts Development Team offices of Bath & North East Somerset Council.
CURRENT FUNDING
CLA is funded through a five-way partnership comprising Arts Council England-SW and the four local authorities covering the former Avon county area – Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset. CLA is an ACE-SW Regularly Funded Organisation (RFO) and has been notified that its funding for 2008-11 will be at the same level as 2007-8 plus inflation.
In 2007-8 these funders contributed:
Cash In-kind
Arts Council England-SW £38,018 0
Bristol £10,000 1 day wk x 52 weeks
Value unknown
Bath and North East Somerset £5,820 £5,000
South Gloucestershire £2,000 0
North Somerset £2,000 tbc 1 day x 25 weeks
Value unknown
Additionally, CLA estimates it will have earned £1825 from sales in 2007-8. This income is from fee/ticket charges to customers attending events, conferences and training sessions.
FUNDING CHALLENGES
At present, earned income from sales and other sources equates to just 1% of CLA’s total income. It is therefore very reliant on public funding. Whilst the CLA Steering Group is reasonably confident that the five funders will continue to support the organisation, local authority discretionary funding is increasingly restricted due to pressures on statutory services. We therefore need to explore options and opportunities for increasing our earned income and diversifying the sources from which our income is achieved.
CLA is, nevertheless, fundamentally a local authority-supported service: it is not, and does not wish to be, a commercial organisation.
Since its inception it has been hosted by Bath and North East Somerset Council, and the two members of staff are B&NES Council employees with the terms, conditions and benefits of local government employment. A future option could be that the organisation becomes a company limited by guarantee, with or without charitable status. There are several other comparable arts education agencies in the SW which are all independent companies i.e. Daisi, Spaeda. This would open up opportunity to apply for sources of funding from trusts and foundations which are not available to local authorities; on the other hand, the organisation would require considerably more financial and human resources if it were operating independently.
At the present time, we are not actively considering this option. We therefore need to identify income generating activities and sources of funding which are realistic and appropriate for our current mode of business operation within a local authority. This will involve researching, assessing and evaluating the options, so that the CLA Steering Group can decide which are the most viable.
INCOME GENERATION OPPORTUNITIES
APPOINTMENT OF RESEARCHER / CONSULTANT
We now wish to appoint a researcher / consultant to research, assess, and evaluate the options for diversifying our income.
The researcher / consultant will undertake the following work over a period of five months between 1 May 2008 and 30 September 2008:
Stage 1
· Familiarise with CLA’s current and projected funding and sources of income
· Make contact with CLA’s funders and core partners
· Familiarise with CLA’s services
· Familiarise with the business models, operations, services, and sources of income of the other arts education agencies in the SW
· Research and assess options for diversifying CLA’s income from all possible sources
· Evaluate the options in discussion with the CLA Manager and the Chair of the CLA Steering Group
Stage 2
· Undertake further, more detailed assessment and evaluation of the preferred options
· Suggest improvements or changes to CLA’s services which could result in increased opportunities for income generation
· Produce forecast budgets for 2009-14 (5 years) showing realistic income that could be achieved from all viable sources
· Produce final report and recommendations
· Present findings and recommendations to CLA Steering Group at Annual Review Meeting 10am – 12 noon Tuesday 7 October 2008.
Please note that we do not require a fund-raiser. This purpose of this work is to research, assess, and evaluate the options for diversifying our income.
It is anticipated that the researcher / consultant will work on a flexible work pattern to be negotiated with the CLA Manager and the Chair of the Steering Group. We estimate that the work equates to approximately 20 days.
WORK LOCATION AND MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENTS
It is envisaged that the majority of the researcher / consultant’s work will be done from his/her home/own office base, with meetings at CLA’s office in central Bath as required.
‘Hot desk’ space (with computer and telephone) in Council offices can be arranged. We regret that there is no dedicated workstation permanently available.
CONTRACT MANAGEMENT
The researcher / consultant will be responsible for undertaking the tasks specified in the brief, and producing a detailed report of findings and recommendations by 30 September 2008.
The researcher / consultant will agree a work programme with the CLA Manager at the commencement of the project.
The CLA Manager will manage and support the researcher / consultant through regular communication by email, telephone and face to face meetings as required.
CONTRACT FEE AND DAYS
Fee: £5000 over 5 months (1 May 2008 – 30 September 2008).
Payment phasing will be confirmed.
The contract is offered either on a freelance basis to an individual, or as a contract to an agency or company, or as a secondment.
An individual must provide evidence of schedule D status and confirm in writing their responsibility for their own tax and NI payments.
The contract is offered on the basis of a total fee, representing a total number of days to be worked flexibly. The researcher / consultant appointed will be expected to devise their own project plan for delivery of the project and to allocate how and when the days will be worked.
Please note that the fee is inclusive of travel and inclusive of any office/telephone expenses incurred from your home/own office base.
ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT
CLA can provide some additional administrative support to the researcher / consultant (to be discussed and agreed) which could include:
Supplying contact details
Arranging and confirming meetings
Making straightforward telephone calls
Photocopying
CONTACTS
The key contacts for the researcher / consultant are:
Donna Baber
Manager, Creative Learning Agency
Ann Cullis
Senior Arts Development Officer, Bath & North East Somerset Council; Chair, CLA Steering Group
The researcher / consultant will also come into contact with:
Jackie Price
Administrative Assistant, Creative Learning Agency
Annie Beardsley
Project Manager, Creative Learning Agency
REPORTING
The researcher / consultant reports to:
Donna Baber
Manager, Creative Learning Agency
TIMESCALE
Flexible, completion of report: 30 September 2008
The researcher/consultant will be required to present their report to the Steering Group at the Creative Learning Agency Annual Review Meeting between 10.00am – 12noon on Tuesday 7 October 2008 in Bristol.
KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED
Essential
· Knowledge and understanding of funding sources available to local authorities
· Knowledge and understanding of values and operating context of local authorities
· Knowledge and understanding of values and operating context of voluntary sector arts organisations
· Managing a project to deadline and within budget
· Managing your time and a complex workload
· Business development on the web
Desirable
· Knowledge and understanding of local authority procedures, responsibilities, and legislation
· Knowledge and understanding of local, regional and national issues and priorities for the arts and education, and their implications
· Knowledge of commercial opportunities in the voluntary sector
· Interest in arts education
SKILLS REQUIRED
Essential
· Strategic thinking skills
· Ability to think laterally, identify less obvious solutions, innovate
· Financial management and strategic planning
· Organisational skills
· Attention to detail
· Communication skills (written and verbal)
· Able to work on your own and with teams
· Commitment to equalities and partnership working
EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST
If you wish to be considered for this work, please send:
· your CV
· relevant background information
· supporting letter summarising your knowledge, experience and skills in relation to our requirements
· an estimate of the number of days’ work which you would undertake to deliver the project within the fee and the timescale
to:
Donna Baber
Manager
Creative Learning Agency
Abbey Chambers
Kingston Buildings
Off York Street
Bath
BA1 1LT
DEADLINE
5.00pm Monday 17 March 2008
INTERVIEWS
Tuesday 1 April 2008
Interviews will take place in Bath, and it is anticipated that the researcher / consultant will make an immediate start following appointment.
If you wish to discuss any aspect of this project before submitting your application, please contact:
Donna Baber, Manager, Creative Learning Agency
01225 396392
BRIEF researcher or consultant on income generation – DB070208